Mackenzie Crook will be in the director’s chair for the second series of Bridget Christie’s comedy drama The Change, with filming beginning next month.

Expectation makes the Channel 4 show that centres on Linda (Christie), a menopausal, married mother of two who has an existential crisis that compels her to dig out her old Triumph motor bike and head to the Forest of Dean to rediscover her old haunts.

Series 2 finds Linda facing repercussions from the lies she has told the forest community, and the arrival of her husband Steve who has come to take her home.

The executive producers are Christie, Nerys Evans and Morwenna Gordon. The producer is Lisa Mitchell.

Crook said: “The Change was my favourite TV show of 2023 and so to find myself directing Series 2 feels like winning a competition. My prize includes Bridget’s beautifully crafted scripts, a cast of comedy legends, and a summer of filming in the glorious British countryside. What a privilege to be working with Expectation and to be back on Channel 4 where I started my career.”

Christie added: “Detectorists was my favourite British TV show of the past decade and was a huge influence on The Change, so to have Mackenzie directing the second series feels like a mad dream. I can’t think of anyone better suited to direct.”